OSW Commentary - A Journey into a glorious past: three terms of Georgian Dream - The oligarch’s dream comes true

Such concerns were fuelled by Ivanishvili’s speculations about integrating with the Eurasian Economic Community (later the Eurasian Economic Union),8 and his suggestions that Saakashvili’s government was partly responsible for the outbreak of the war with Russia in 2008,9 as well as the gradual marginalisation of the most pro-European politicians from the coalition parties within the ruling bloc. [...] The first prison sentence without parole for the former president, handed down in absentia in January 2018, was widely perceived as political revenge, irrespective of the evidence presented.11 In the lead up to the 2016 elections, the government intensified its campaign against the opposition, particularly targeting the UNM. [...] …and with the West When Georgia’s Association Agreement with the EU entered into force and the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens travelling to the Schengen Area was introduced, the objectives of the Eastern Part- nership were essentially fulfilled. [...] According to the OSCE, the elections were free and competitive, but the “blurring of the line between the ruling party and the state” reduced public confidence in some aspects of the electoral process.14 The months-long deadlock was eventually resolved by an agreement between political forces in April 2021, brokered by the European Council President, Charles Michel, who played an active role in th. [...] The EU was an eligible mediator because, under the amendments to the Georgian constitution that came into effect in 2018, the goal of the state was to strive for full integration with the EU and NATO.